The Indian boxing contingent’s difficult campaign at the 2024 World Boxing Olympic Qualification tournament concluded with a disappointing outcome, as Nishant Dev suffered a defeat in his quota bout for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The World Boxing Championships bronze medallist suffered a 1-4 defeat against Omari Jones in the quarter-final of the men’s light middleweight (71kg) category.
Nishant, India’s standout performer at the tournament in Italy’s Busta Arsizio, advanced to the quarter-final following three consecutive victories. The 23-year-old from Haryana defeated Great Britain’s Lewis Richardson, Georgia’s Eskerkhan Madiev and Greece’s Christos Karaitis before his quarter-final bout, where he came out second-best against United States of America’s Omari Jones, who won a World Championships silver medal in 2021.
How Have Indians Performed at the World Boxing Olympic Qualifiers?
India will be returning empty-handed from Italy, as all of the nine pugilists have been unsuccessful in their bids to secure an Olympics quota.
In men’s categories, six of the seven competitors – Deepak Bhoria, Mohammad Hussamuddin, Shiva Thapa, Lakshya Chahar, Shiva Thapa and Narender Berwal – suffered elimination after losing their respective first matches.
Nishant happened to be the sole Indian pugilist to get a victory under his belt in this tournament.
In the women’s section, both Commonwealth Games medallist Jaismine Lamboria and Asian Championships medallist Ankushita Boro were eliminated in round 1.
Indian boxers' outcomes at the World Qualification Tournament:
Men's section
Flyweight (51kg)
Deepak Bhoria 2-3 Nijat Huseynov
Featherweight (57kg)
Mohammad Hussamuddin 0-4 Jude Gallagher
Light Welterweight (63.5kg)
Shiva Thapa defeat via RSC vs Jose Adriel Diaz
Light Middleweight (71kg)
Nishant Dev – 3-1 vs Lewis Richardson, 5-0 vs Eskerkhan Madiev, 5-0 vs Christos Karaitis, 1-4 vs Omari Jones
Light Heavyweight (80kg)
Lakshya Chahar defeat via KO vs Meysam Gheshlaghi
Heavyweight (92kg)
Sanjeet Kumar 0-5 Aibek Oralbey
Super Heavyweight
Narender Berwal 0-5 Nelvie Tiafack
Women's section
Lightweight (60kg)
Jaismine Lamboria 0-5 Ayaka Taguchi
Welterweight (66kg)
Ankushita Boro 2-3 Emilie Sonvico
What’s Next for Indian Boxers?
Despite the dispiriting show in Italy, the Indian boxing contingent will be provided with another opportunity to secure Olympic quota places.
The nations without qualified boxers for any specific category after the first qualification tournament will have the chance to register one boxer in each weight category at the second World Qualification tournament.
The second competition will be held in Thailand’s Bangkok, from 23 May to 3 June.
How Many Indian Boxers Have Earned Quota Places for the 2024 Paris Olympics?
So far, four female Indian pugilists have earned quota places for the 2024 Paris Olympics, courtesy of their performance in last year’s Asian Games.
Here is the list of Indian boxers with quota places, alongside their Asian Games laurels:
Nikhat Zareen – Bronze medallist in women’s 50kg
Preeti Pawar – Bronze medallist in women’s 54kg
Parveen Hooda – Bronze medallist in women’s 57kg
Lovlina Borgohain – Silver medallist in women’s 75kg
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